One person, one vote - not one dollar, one vote
Published Friday, August 22, 2008 Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Letter to the Editor
The latest corruption indictment against Rep. Cowdery states that on two separate occasions, VECO executives commented that the only leverage they had to change votes on the Petroleum Production Tax legislation was "through campaign contributions and by hosting fundraisers." Is that what our democracy has sunk to? Pony up cash or move to the back of the line? The sickening scope of corruption across Alaska revealed by the FBI investigations suggests that it is all too true.
How do we return to the people-centered democracy our founders intended? Part of the solution should be clean elections, a movement building across the country that provides a strong antidote to big money politics: publicly financed campaigns. It is based on a simple premise - politicians who are not dependent on wealthy special interests to win their campaigns will be more responsive to their constituents and free to vote their conscience.
Clean elections have been in Maine and Arizona for almost a decade, longer than any other states. They have made such a difference that about 80 percent of voters in Arizona support the system
One person, one vote - not one dollar, one vote - is the ideal upon which our democracy was founded. We need to reclaim that high ground. The Legislature failed to pass a clean elections law last session. It's time for the people to take charge.
Vote yes on Ballot Measure 3.